When ArenaNet and NCsoft released Guild Wars in April of last year, many scoffed at the idea that a massive online game could support itself without charging a monthly subscription fee. Well, here it is a year later and Guild Wars appears to be doing just fine. Actually, the first expansion, Guild Wars Factions, was released just a couple of months ago and has helped push the massive online game to another milestone.

To date, Guild Wars has sold more than two million units worldwide, according to a recent announcement from ArenaNet and NCsoft. “Our fans have been overwhelmingly supportive of Guild Wars, and we will continue to make the Guild Wars franchise bigger and better with each release,” says co-founder of ArenaNet, Patrick Wyatt.

Guild Wars does not reach the same audience level of other massive online games such as the popular World of Warcraft, but–in a tight online games market–Guild Wars seems to be holding its own, and its continued popularity indicates the game will be around for quite some time.

show me a demo(11:09am EST Tue Jun 20 2006)at least i could try out WoW before i bought it. anyone played both and explain pros/cons? free online play is very attractive. we have server lag occationally and never at a good time.

im not fond of buying a game i can't try first. - by serious pda user

hmm(11:23am EST Tue Jun 20 2006)Actully GW had tons of free preview events where players could test out the game. The recent was just before release in March and I'm sure there will be more. - by Tr0n

WoW vs. GW(11:31am EST Tue Jun 20 2006)I must say, first of all, that GW is very nice regarding that it is for free after you buy the game itself. I am impressed by the size of the world, and all the really nice extras that are there. But World of warcraft is a totally other league, and it seriously, sorry for putting it this way, beats th shit out of Guild wars. I havent touched GW since i got WoW…..go blizzard!! :D - by R2D2

WoW(12:18pm EST Tue Jun 20 2006)Ive Got Warcraft ROC AND FROZEN THRONE BUT I AM REALLY WONDERING WHAT WOW IS LIKE? WHAT ELSE DO YOU DO OR IS IT THE SAME OLD B.NET….???? - by Geek.com

re: Geek.com(12:30pm EST Tue Jun 20 2006)WoW and the Warcraft games have little in common as far as how you play them. Completely different. I suggest finding someone and borrow their 2 week friend trial. - by Revan The Ninja

From a guy who loses interest in games quickly(1:17pm EST Tue Jun 20 2006)I have been playing WoW since is was released. The only other game I have ever played that long is Counter Strike. I am amazed that is it still exciting to play, I have eight chars on one server 2-60's 2-50's 2-30's 2-10's. Every previous MMOG bored me to tears after a month or two. - by 2 Cents

gw vs wow(2:03pm EST Tue Jun 20 2006)given that gw is free after the initial cost, you can say that the games are about even- in my book. gw does not reel in 60 million a month (6,000,000 WoW users paying at least $10 a month) but it is pretty good. WoW has huge funds to improve and GW has made do wit hwhat they have. gj to both - by jackssssssss

re: 2 cents(2:52pm EST Tue Jun 20 2006)I'm the same way when it comes to MMOG. Very few have held my interest, only WoW for as long as it has.

As for jacksssssssssss, you have a very good point. - by Revan The Ninja

Guild Wars is better in my opinion, irrespective of the fact that its free. I simply think its a better game. - by Hilander

WoW sucks(6:38pm EST Tue Jun 20 2006)It only takes a week of playing ff11 to see how much wow blows as far as pay to play MMORPG's go. You pay $15 a month and Blizzard dosen't do shit to improve or update the game. Meanwhile Squenix is hard at work taking your monthly payments to constantly improve the game and make it better. With FF11 you can SEE that your money goes to making a better gaming experience, which is something WoW players rarely get to see.

And Congrats for the makers of Guild Wars. They've definatly struck a market nitch, knowing that not everyone is willing to pay a monthly fee to play. HOpefully game sales alone will be enough to keep the servers running - by Real gamers play FF

Who in their right mind would PAY?(8:12am EST Thu Jun 22 2006)Why would you pay $50 for a game that you are forced to pay $15-$25/month to play when games like GuildWars are free?

GW is an addictive game with an ever changing world. The holidays change the graphics to large Christmas trees and Halloween brings huge witches cauldrons and pumpkins.

It's obvious that if people pay to play online that manufacturers will continue to MAKE you pay. Just say NO to PAY MMOG's. - by XJM

free per month(11:02am EST Thu Jun 22 2006)although free per month is better for the consumer as far as cost goes… i always thought that companies would just give the game away and charge monthly fees… i think that would sucker more people in - by eh

The comparison(4:22pm EST Thu Jun 22 2006)I have been playing GW again for few months, got in a good guild and we were blasting out levels. Factions hit the shelf and within a week some of us had already beaten the new expansion…it was about this point the replayability stopped. Our guild leader had been in on conversations with the designers of the game and there were alot of promises for GW: Factions that just never came true. They also released a product with a ton of issues. Missing storage agents, a faction system that made it hard to advance beyond a certain point, etc. Also, it has been stated that they are already at work on Chapter 3. This is a major mistake because they have serious problems with Chapter 2.

WoW I started about two weeks ago and am loving it. I can see the replayability and the fact that there are alot of common sense things in there that GW should have. Items like the Auction House and Mail system for starters. WoW also has one other thing, lots of new content. With GW, you bought the game and that is what you get. Rarely do they add new quests or missions. With WoW they are adding stuff often. Just this week they added a whole new Instance Dungeon.

Now the first thing people will say is that “well with WoW you pay the fee.” To them I say, try it. I hate paying fees for games that I already bought and I will NOT be cancelling my subscription after the trial ends. WoW has a ton of fun features that GW cant even touch.

In summary. I love both games, but I do feel that Arenanet dropped the ball on this one. - by BG

WoW, is it really that good?(2:22am EST Sun Jun 25 2006)In my opinion, i've played WoW for some time now i got a lvl 32 character, i'm quite impressed by all the new content thats been added, and i was wondering what other people who play guild wars have to say about WoW, btw great job Blizzard keep up the good work :D anyway, i think guild wars is nowhere near as good as WoW is simply because of the lack of new content so what if the graphics change on certain days, WoW updates stuff all the time, theres always something new to do.

Another MMORPG that i played was EQ & FF11, that game is pretty crap, i must say that the company really stuffed up big time, afterall i'm a huge FF fan, can't wait for Final Fantasy Crisis Core for PSP

EQ2 rules (4:09am EST Tue Jul 18 2006)Never played WoW, but it looks way too cartoony for me anyway. I'm a (former) Everquest 2 player, wich beats the stuffing outta WoW any time. Looks much better anyway. Too bad again that is has a monthly pay, and I think GW stands out a lot because of what they are doing. Repetitive gamplay can be avoided by making tons of alts and actually level them like mad (wich was what I have been doing)

EQ2 RULES !

:D - by Heathertoes

wow sucks(8:57am EST Thu Jul 27 2006)wow has the most babiest graphics i have ever seen i meen come on a ghone wtf who wants a ghnome what are they gonna do dance them to death its so unrealistic yea gw does have some unrealistic parts but nothing compared to wow thats why i think gw owns and wow sucks also gw is FREEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! - by URE MUM